Simon Armitage's Remains is a disturbing poem exploring the psychological impact of war on soldiers. It is based on a real account of a British soldier's experiences serving in Iraq and describes the moment he killed a looter and the lasting trauma that followed. The poet uses conversational language to show the lingering violent memories, long after it happened. Themes of guilt, memory and PTSD are present.
PTSD - post-traumatic stress disorder
Guilt - a feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing
Colloquial - using conversational style
Haunting - having qualities that linger in the memory
Desensitisation - to extinguish an emotional response to stimuli which formerly induced it
Simon Armitage examines the concept of PTSD on the lives of young soldiers in the brutal aftermath of war by contrasting the colloquial friendliness of the speaker with the 'bloody' depiction of his violent and intrusive memories.
This is the poem's volta. The violent acts begin to mentally affect the narrative voice of the poem. Colloquial expressions such as 'I swear' and 'legs it' create a conversational tone. Armitage alludes to the long term effects of PTSD and explores the effects of the Iraq war on ex-soldiers. The volta is used to contrast the narrator's friendliness with the brutality of war.
The soldiers are seemingly controlled by an unseen superior. They do not question authority. The poem begins in media res. The occasion has obviously stuck in the speakers mind, making it significant.
This shows the true horrors of war. We are presented with a gruesome image of bullets destroying a life, implying how fragile life is, and how it is so easy to take away. Ripping something takes little effort and always leads to destruction.
The verb 'tosses' is nonchalant; there are no real ramifications to death - not immediately anyway. The men have become so desensitised by war they they have no qualms when throwing guts back into bodies. This shows a casual action - these men are not the same as they used to be.
Shows a sense of urgency. This connotes aggression and anger, posing a threat to the soldiers. The verb 'bursts' could also link to PTSD; there is no warning to the anxiety, making it crippling.
The speaker is so haunted that he is desperate to cleanse himself, ironically using harmful substances. He is lost.
The speaker could be swearing, reflecting the frustration he feels, or he could be talking about actual blood. He feels huge amounts of guilt.
Armitage uses a monologue form and unrhymed quatrains to show how the speaker cannot get rid of the image of killing someone. Representative of the disintegration of his mind.
The lack of rhythmic pattern and enjambment adds a sense of being told a story fairly naturally.